The William E. Doar, Jr. Public Charter School
for the
Performing Arts
(Washington, DC)
The William E. Doar, Jr. Public Charter School for the Performing Arts (WEDJ
PCS) opened its doors for the first time to 153 Pre-K to 5th grade students in
September 2004. The school is named for William E. (Bill) Doar, Jr. who
served as Phi Beta Sigma’s National Executive Secretary/National Executive
Director for thirty years (1949 -1979).
Located at 705 Edgewood Street, NE in Washington, DC (about ten minutes
or three miles south of the Sigma National Headquarters) on the Second
Floor, WEDJ PCS has a permanent state-of-the-art newly developed facility to
best serve its mission in educating students in the District of Columbia.
In February of 2005, WEDJ PCS received a charter amendment from the
District of Columbia Public Charter School Board and has enrolled students in
grades PK to 7th; and will add grade 9 in September 2006.
The school will grow to include Eighth (8th) to Tenth (10th) grades in
September 2007. Subsequent plans include expansion to a Performing Arts
High School through the 12th Grade; with an overall student capacity for
grades PK-12 of 1200 students. At present, the WEDJ PCS serves as a feeder
program for the Duke Ellington High School for the Arts.
A-B
C-D
E-F
Picture A
Picture B
Picture C
Picture D
Picture E
Picture F
- The inviting entrance to the William E. Doar, Jr. School.
- Outside the multipurpose room.
- Inside the multipurpose room.
- Story time in a classroom.
- Loosening up in the dance studio.
- The computer laboratory.
Picture Credits: Bro. Colin Peart
Sharper Image Photography
WEDJ PCS is a co-educational day school that provides both a collegepreparatory, standards based curriculum as well as professional-grade
artistic instruction and practice in various forms including: visual,
performing, written and physical as they relate to and support the
performing arts of Theater, Movement and Music. Students in grades Pre-K to
5th have a 5-day school week with rotating academic tutoring, rehearsals
and special events on Saturdays. Students in grades 6th to 8 are required to
agree to participate in a 6-day school week enabling full instruction in both
art and academia. All students in grades Pre-K to 8th are required to
participate in at least one public exhibition or performance per year.
The establishment of the WEDJ PCS was spearheaded by Soror Julie DoarSinkfield, one of the five children of Elaine and William E. Doar, Jr. The
school has an ecumenical Pan-Hellenic staff. The school is both a fitting
memorial to the exemplary lifetime work of Bro. Bill Doar and a continuation
of Bill’s total devotion to Phi Beta Sigma, to education and to the proper
preparation of young people.
Julie S. Doar-Sinkfield, Executive Director
Nadia Casseus, School Director
Mary Robbins, Arts Partnership Director
Phi Beta Sigma’s Authentic Giant
William E. (Bill) Doar, Jr.
Authentic Giants leave footprints of stone upon the sands of time
One does not, one cannot, fill them;
Their expanse is too great, their mark too deep
Authentic Giants leave footprints of stone upon the sands of time
One does not, one cannot, fill them;
You just stand in the presence of so much space, speechless, with great and abiding awe.
G. D. Smith, 1981
William E. Doar, Jr. became the first National Executive Secretary of Phi Beta
Sigma in 1949, and served continuously until 1979 – a period of thirty years.
When the title of Sigma’s chief operations officer was changed to National
Executive Director; Bill became Sigma’s first National Executive Director.
Bill served along side of some eleven National Presidents. While they, and
their boards, came and went; Bill remained the only constant, except for our
beloved Founders. Elected to the Distinguished Service Chapter (DSC # 33) in
the year of his appointment, Bill supervised the operations of some 25
National Conclaves; and with his wife (Elaine) remained for some thirty years
as Phi Beta Sigma’s only administrative staff.
The debt that Phi Beta Sigma owes to Bill Doar, and his family, is beyond
measure. We must not only contribute to the success of the WEDJ PCS; we
must insure it. As Bill stood with our Founders dream until it was realized (a
fulltime national office); we must stand with Bill’s dream until it is fully
realized.
An Introduction to Soror Elaine Doar
Soror Elaine Doar first met William E. Doar, Jr. at the 1953 Conclave as she accompanied
her first husband (Walter Clarke) who had been initiated into Kappa Beta Sigma Chapter a
few years prior to that conclave. She remembers that it was her first airplane ride, and the
first time that she met Bro. Doar. Bill Doar’s family had roots in Charleston, SC and Elaine’s
family had longtime roots in Brooklyn and in the Caribbean.
Following the untimely passing of her first husband, and with several young children to
raise, Elaine sought a job to assist in meeting expenses. Another Kappa Beta Sigma
member (Richard E. Alleyne, Sr.) told Elaine of Bill’s need for someone to assist him in
doing the office work of Sigma. Bill Doar was a longtime employee of the State of New York
as an employment counselor and he did Sigma’s work in the evenings following a full day’s
work. Elaine could only work during the days because of the need to care for her children.
Bill arranged for Elaine to be trained by his former secretary who was leaving her
employment with Sigma. When Elaine Doar came on board, it marked the first time that the
Sigma Office could be contacted during the business day.
Bill and Elaine married on April 3rd, 1964. Bro. Doar had previously been married and had a
daughter from that union; and Elaine had three children (two girls and a boy) from her first
marriage. Julie is the only child produced by Elaine and Bill during their marriage. Prior to
marring her first husband, Elaine Doar had no real knowledge of Phi Beta Sigma. Following
the initiation of her first husband in to Sigma, Elaine came to realize that her godfather and
pastor (The Rev. John M. Coleman – the first black member of the Brooklyn Board of
Education) was also a Sigma. Before Bill and Elaine married, the Sigma office was located
at 1105 Prospect Place in Brooklyn. Three years after their marriage, the office was
relocated to the grounds of their new home in a second smaller building (not above their
garage) on their 1006 Carroll Street (Brooklyn, NY) property. The smaller building, which
became the home of Sigma, had two rooms downstairs and two rooms and a bath upstairs.
Moving to the larger building provided room for temporary part-time workers for peak
periods. It is important for younger members to realize that all of this was pre-computer. All
correspondence had to be typed, and carbon paper copies produced for the files. In
addition to the two building and garage on the property, Bill also purchased several metal
storage units to house back copies of the Crescent and other related documents. The
fraternity did subsidize some of the expenses; but to the greater extent, Bill and Elaine were
primarily responsible for keeping Sigma afloat.
For most of the almost twenty years of their combined service to Sigma, Bill and Elaine kept
meticulous records; in many ways, superior to those the fraternity keeps today. Every letter,
every receipt number, every name was cross referenced so that information could quickly
and easily be researched; and all questions answered. Over time, because computers were
not yet available, Elaine trained her mind to operate like a computer; instantly able to recall
problem cases and files to specifically answer questions and challenges that might arise at
regional meetings or national conclaves. Bill’s meticulous system of recordkeeping and
Elaine’s computer-like memory became particularly important when the history book (which
used to be a part of the initiation fee) was finally reproduced. The history had been out of
print for a number of years, and to properly send out the copies that were back ordered
during those years, only the presence of carefully kept records allowed for the proper
distribution. Individual letters had to be sent to each chapter and each brother; and then
cross referenced to the mass alphabetical card file in the office. Once a brother had been
located, and his address updated, individual copies of the history had to be packaged,
addressed and carried to the Post Office in lots of 40 – 50 by Elaine (pushing the copies in a
shopping cart). Elaine was Sigma’s original “bag lady” pushing our history to the post
office.
Elaine fondly remembers the brothers who would often show up on their doorsteps
because they knew that Brother Doar was a New York employment counselor. Elaine often
had to feed them while they waited fro Bro. Doar to get home from work – and often both
Elaine and her mother would prepare both food and a sleeping place for the young brothers
while they waited for a placement to come through.
Through thick and thin, - through summer, fall, winter and spring – for thirty years; Bill Doar
persevered until he saw Sigma finally located in its first time National Headquarters. And
Elaine Doar, who fully recognized that Sigma was Bill’s first love; she too decided that she
would fall in love both with Bill and with Phi Beta Sigma.
She believed, and still believes, in the principles of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, and her
loyalty to these transcends all personal responsibility. Asked what she would say to the
members of Phi Beta Sigma; Elaine simply says. “Don’t just speak the motto, Culture for
Service and Service for Humanity”. “Live the motto”.
Blue Phi Sister Doar – Blue Phi !!!
In 2004, I had the privilege of being appointed to the board of the WEDJ PCS. As a former chemist and
mathematician, I was asked to write the science – math tie-in for the WEDJ charter. Anyone who has seen
“The Lion King” in New York knows that theater today involves more than singing and dancing. In the opening
of “the Lion King”, when that mountain rises out of the floor; that’s “physics”. And when Mustafa’s face
appears in the second act; that’s a mastery of movement, lighting and sound engineering. The WEDJ PCS is
preparing children for more than simply singing and dancing – and you can help. Please send your checks (in
any amount) to the WEDJ PCS account in the PBS National Credit Union. Show your thanks to Bill and Elaine
Doar, Jr. by investing in our children – our future.